Korean Pop music has been diversifying especially when it comes to solo female artists. YUJU has recently released her second mini-album titled O along with the Without U MV which explores heartbreak and the loss of a relationship through a single perspective. This is the second track on her EP which also includes the tracks 9 Years, Dreaming, Peach Blossom (feat. sokodomo) and Full Circle. Once again the Korean Drama OST energy is strong in this song. It is heartfelt and dramatic, which is the perfect amalgamation for a television soundtrack.
She starts off by exploring the mundane parts of her life now that there is no one at home. She is seen doing things normally while being a functioning member of society but something is missing in her life – something she wanted to last long, but it didn’t. We then see her packing some things up in a box, as if she has to drop them off somewhere or at someone’s place. She is doing this with no emotion, as if closed off from all of the memories this would bring back.
We can see her writing the songs for this mini-album in the video as a way to suggest how she used her emotions and fueled her passion into the art she is currently making. The idea is that she is cleaning up everything that she had built in this life and seeing herself write music and make art, seems far in the future, and the way she saw herself doing it is a dream that may not come true just yet.
The guitar in the video becomes a motif for the relationship and her outlook towards it. She has been writing and playing music for a while about this, but there will be moments when it won’t be so easy to put forward everything she had written or ruminated about. There is this magic in the house that is leaving, and it is making her remember all the times she picked up a guitar to play music. Like in this new orange outfit sporting a beret.
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She is seen speaking on the phone with someone conversing about the lyrics she has written. The room she is looking into is bringing back painful memories. All of those flashbacks of writing music and being a person who was able to navigate around life are saddening because she is unable to do that anymore. This scene is followed by her taking a walk in the wilderness surrounded by nothing but the trees, which highlights her stark feelings of loneliness and the shaky camera angles also add to this feeling of sadness and listlessness.
As the music reaches a natural pause to usher in the bridge, we see YUJU stumble and then see her guitar, now broken in two in front of her but far away from her, showing just how broken and distant she has been feeling from herself. It is a wonderful exploration of loss and heartbreak using an inanimate object. The guitar takes her to this portal where she sees her past self doing all these amazing things with music.
But now, it’s not the same. She is singing in the rain which is the one place we see her exhibit any emotion till now. An indication that the rain provides enough cover for the sadness to wash away. It is a wonderfully shot music video, detailing the heartbreak and loss of something that most people would not personify, but is still deep-seated and painful. Losing someone is always painful, however, losing something that you had wonderfully built over time and was only yours, cracks hearts and breaks heartstrings. That concept is wonderfully depicted in the music video.
Even if someone wasn’t able to see the music video, they would be able to feel the emotion emanating from the screen. It is wonderfully shot and written with visually calming and soothing tones making it all the more interesting to see. The muted tones of the set and production helped the emotion pop on the artist’s face. She has done a great job writing a song like this and tying it up with natural and organic elements.
Watch Without U MV Below
YUJU’s mini-album O is available to stream on Spotify. Which track is your favourite? Let us know in the comments below.